In a current long term evolution (LTE) system, by detecting a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) that are sent by a base station (eNB), a user equipment (UE) synchronizes with the eNB and identifies a physical cell, afterwards, reads a system broadcast message sent by the eNB, initiates random access to the eNB, and finally, establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the eNB and performs data communication with the eNB.
Both a UE in an RRC connection state and a UE in an RRC idle state need to measure radio resource management (RRM) by using a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), so as to guarantee mobility performance of the UE, thereby implementing appropriate cell handover, cell selection, or cell reselection. In the current LTE system, a sending period of the PSS, the SSS, the CRS and the like is generally as short as about 5 ms; therefore, even if no UE requires a service, the eNB still sends the foregoing synchronization signals and reference signals with the short sending period. As a result, power efficiency of the eNB is not very high.
An idea of solving the foregoing problem by using a discovery reference signal (Discovery Reference Signal, hereinafter referred to as DRS) is proposed in this industry. Based on the DRS, the base station can be closed for a long time, for example, a power amplifier of the base station can be closed for a long time, relative to the existing 5 ms. The reason why the base station can be closed for a long time is that the DRS, even in a closed state for a long time, needs to be sent, so that the UE discovers and/or measures a cell controlled by the base station, that is, a period of the DRS is longer than that of an existing reference signal such as the CRS, for example, the period is hundreds of milliseconds or even several seconds. Although the idea aiming at the DRS has been introduced in this industry, no specific DRS sending and detecting solution for solving the foregoing problem is provided.